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Carlisle woman’s desperate plea for alleygate next to home

A woman who says she has been plagued for years by fly-tippers and antisocial behaviour is calling for an alleygate to be installed beside her home.

Alleygates

Marjorie Cadden is angered that residents in other parts of Denton Holme, Carlisle, are being consulted on proposals to erect more of the crime prevention gates near their homes, and yet she has lodged continued complaints about trouble around her property in Collingwood Street.

Cumbria County Council’s Carlisle local committee has approved plans to consult residents about installing alleygates around Westmorland Street and Norfolk Street.

Mrs Cadden said: “I’ve been trying to get an alleygate on the lane beside my house for 10 years.

“I’ve spoken to my local councillor Hugh McDevitt and I’ve had the police involved because there were drug users in the lane and needles being thrown over our wall. There’s also been people having parties on furniture left out there and bedroom furniture being fly-tipped there.

“I’ve been told the McKnight’s firm has a right of way, as it is for any of the other nine houses that have access to it.”

She added: “I was in touch with the police so often that I had my own log number for when I contacted them.

“A few years ago my husband put up a wooden gate but it got wrecked. I want an alleygate there. Our living room wall and the bedroom above it are beside that lane.

“I’ve got a heart condition and my husband works night shifts. I’m frightened and I sometimes lie there at night, awake, nervous every time I hear a noise.”

Mr McDevitt, who sits on both Carlisle city and Cumbria county councils, said: “I’m regularly in touch with the McKnights to see what is happening about their site behind Collingwood Street. They’ve already agreed to put up a gate when the site is developed.

“They have a right to access and at the moment that one does not meet all the certain criteria for alleygates. There are lots you have to meet before you can consult with people about installing them.”

Some homes in Denton Holme, around Nelson Street, Clifton Street and St James Road, have had alleygates since 2009.

Inspector Barry Bell, who leads Carlisle West Neighbourhood Policing Team for Cumbria police, said: “Antisocial behaviour and other crime can occur in the Denton Holme area, including Collingwood Street, the same as anywhere else – but we are not aware of any significant issues.

“A recent residents’ survey showed that 94 per cent of people living in the area feel safe and are satisfied with the policing presence.”

The inspector also urged any residents with concerns about crime or antisocial behaviour to report it to police or Crimestoppers.

Alleygates were first installed in Carlisle in 2007 and there are now about 50 in the city.

The 6ft gates close back lanes to everyone except residents or the emergency services who have keys or a code. They help cut antisocial behaviour and reduce problems such as fly-tipping.